Couisnard's 40 Pace Ducks In NCAA Opener

Thursday, March 21

Pittsburgh, PA

1:00 PM

University of Oregon

24-11,12-8Pac-12

South Carolina

26-8,13-5SEC

Oregon

South Carolina

Photo by: Ian McFarland/UO Athletics

03/21/24 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score: Oregon 87, South Carolina 73

The Oregon men's basketball team opened the NCAA Tournament with an 87-73 win Thursday over South Carolina.

By: Rob Moseley

PITTSBURGH — Seven times as Oregon's head coach, Dana Altman has taken the court for a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament. Seven times, Altman's Ducks have walked off the court as victors, the most recent instance Thursday's 87-73 win over South Carolina.

Whether the Ducks were a No. 1 regional seed, as they were in 2016, or down lower in the bracket, such as the No. 11 seed they took into Thursday's game, it hasn't mattered. Altman's teams win in the first round, and they do it with a tried-and-true formula.

Win the rebounding battle, as the Ducks did Thursday, 32-26. Take care of the ball, as Oregon did particularly well in the second half against the Gamecocks, turning it over just once. Hold the opposition under 70 points, in which case the UO men are 14-2 this season.

The Ducks on Thursday didn't quite achieve that last goal. But it still worked out. Some of that was because Oregon checked those other boxes, which Altman rattled off to the team in the postgame locker room.

"And then," he added, "Jermaine throws a 40-spot on them."

Yes, the formula had an additional variable Thursday, one that super-charged the Ducks. Playing against his former school, and with some 20 friends and family members looking on from the front row, Couisnard set a school record for scoring in an NCAA Tournament game by throwing that 40-spot at the Gamecocks.

Couisnard was motivated to perform well against his former team. He was motivated to put on a show for his grandmother, who was in PPG Paints Arena watching him play for the Ducks for the first time all season. And he was motivated to keep Oregon alive for at least one more game, a second-round matchup Saturday with Creighton.

"It was fun," he said. "Those guys made me. I appreciate those guys more than anything."

His coaches, teammates and fans appreciated Couisnard to no end Thursday. He had 14 points at halftime, when Oregon was nursing a 34-29 lead after a buzzer-beating halfcourt heave from South Carolina. Then, Couisnard exploded for 26 in the second half, bullying his weigh to the rim and sinking threes with defenders in his face.

Couisnard ended up 14-of-22 with five three-pointers, plus six assists and four rebounds. His 40 points comfortably broke the UO record for an NCAA Tournament game, previously held by Tajuan Porter from a 2007 win over UNLV.

"He just had it going," Altman said. "Those are games every player dreams of, getting it going. And getting it going in the NCAA Tournament? That's a really good feeling. It was a big-time performance."

Coming off a Pac-12 Tournament title run that required digging out of some deep deficits, Oregon mostly avoided such trouble Thursday. When the Ducks led 7-5 early, South Carolina scored six straight to grab the lead. Moments later with the score tied 14-14, the Gamecocks scored another six straight, taking a 20-14 lead.

Those 6-0 runs, and that six-point lead, were the biggest of the game for South Carolina in both cases. Couisnard hit a three to end the second 6-0 run, then scored again to make it a one-point game. It was 22-21 when Couisnard scored yet again to give the Ducks the lead for good at 23-22.

That basket sparked an 11-0 run for Oregon that included five more points from Couisnard. He was also helping the Ducks get it done on the defensive end; when South Carolina hit the three-point heave prior to halftime, it was the Gamecocks' first first goal since the 8:22 mark of the first half.

Early in the second half, Couisnard scored eight straight for the Ducks, helping them build their biggest lead of the night at 55-37. South Carolina responded with an 11-4 run to close the gap, but the Oregon lead never got back as small as single digits.

N'Faly Dante added 23 points with six rebounds for the UO men, and Jackson Shelstad scored 11. Kwame Evans Jr. provided eight points with six rebounds and two blocks, Jadrian Tracey hit a first-half three-pointer and grabbed five boards, and Brennan Rigsby had two of the Ducks' eight steals and one of their six blocked shots.

"Very proud of our team, especially these two guys," Altman said postgame while seated at a press conference with Couisnard and Dante. "Just unbelievable performances by both of them.

"We got some good contributions from KJ tonight, Bam (Tracey) gave us a little bit, Jackson was solid again. So really a team effort. But these two are our leaders, and they did a tremendous job."

For Couisnard, it was personal. Now Altman himself will be confronted with the same narrative, as the Ducks move on to play Creighton, where Altman coached 16 years before taking over at Oregon.

But regardless of the opponent, regardless of the outside narrative, Dante said, the Ducks eagerly anticipate Saturday's opportunity.

"I feel like every game is personal," Dante said. "We had a goal to come here and do what we want to do, so we take every game personal. I just look forward to it."